The place I went to said I need a bunch of work. One of the main things is they say the steering column is loose. It has some play if you pull down on the steering wheel fairly hard. I have never had an issue turning or even noticed it before they mentioned it. Could this just be repaired or should I start searching for a new one. I have not had a chance to look at it yet.

I have that issue on both of mine, also failed inspection because of that.

It's caused by bad\cheap design, there the tilt mechanism bolts attach to the steering rack, so they will get loose over time.

I spend 8 hours taking mine apart, re-torquing and gluing the bolts, and putting back together (also making the special tools needed) and It lasted tight for 2 days.I'm just going to cut holes in the cover plastics and weld the 2 pieces together, or swap in no-tilt column..

I rebuilt the tilt steering in my 83 Jimmy, I put a new bushing and bearing in mine, because the plastic guide bushing (that's what I'm calling it, don't know the official name, assuming it's the same for our columns) was worn down, allowing room for wiggling, even with my bolts lock-tited like they were saving my life.

It's now tight and smooth as hell, but haven't put a single mile on the truck with the refreshed column, so I can't vouch for it's longevity.

You might be able to just glue/lock-tite the bolts in place, bring it immediately in for inspection and pass, even if it doesn't hold forever, but it should be okay for a few years if it's not too worn. The column in my Jimmy was soooo loose that it would wobble going over every bump.

Last edited by Koots on Tue May 27, 2014 5:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Here's a guide on how to do it, but it's for an 80's car, but it was the exact same for my full size truck, so it should work for all.

I purchased the two tools needed (steering wheel remover and guide pin remover) because I found them both on eBay and ordered them with my replacement parts and they were cheap (for me, cuz I still live in North America).